Lovin' Spoonfuls’, a food rescue and distribution nonprofit in Massachusetts, is continuing efforts to provide emergency food relief throughout Greater Boston, MetroWest, and Hampden County. In addition to their traditional food rescue and distribution efforts, they have employed responsive procedures to address the city and state restaurant closures.

We talk to Ashley about how she got into the business of bringing food to people who need it most, what makes her non-profit organization unique, and the personal challenges that led her to change her life and help so many others in the process.

Ashley's statement on COVID-19

"Once we start making this personal and start understanding just how far the food can go, and see how widespread the need really is - it might shape the way that we think about what we can do with excess product"...

Read this profile on Ashley and hear how she would love to see food recovery become as mainstream as recycling someday.

Every day is Thanksgiving for Lovin' Spoonfuls' founder.

Boston Magazine covered Lovin' Spoonfuls' most successful fundraiser ever at the annual event hosted by Andrew Zimmern.

What are the common ingredients for high-functioning organizations? Lovin’ Spoonfuls founder and Executive Director Ashley Stanley and distinguished Boston chef and restaurateur Colin Lynch (Bar Mezzana and Shore Leave) join host Billy Shore to discuss their philosophies on building successful organizations and strong communities. 

Edible Boston asks Ashley about her process, goals and background.

Cherry Bombe checks in with Rebecca Masson, one of Houston’s most celebrated pastry chefs and founder of Fluff Bake Bar, to hear how she’s doing and what we can do to help her city. Also stopping by is Katie Quinn, the YouTube personality known as QKatie. and author of the Short Stack Editions cookbook on avocados. Ashley Stanley joins as well. She’s the founder of Lovin’ Spoonfuls, an organization that has rescued more than 7 million pounds of food and distributed it to Boston-area homeless shelters, food pantries, and soup kitchens.  

The Trump administration unveiled its $4.1 billion budget Tuesday, and the shock waves are being felt far beyond Washington. For many working in especially-targeted agencies, the magnitude of these cuts will have considerable implications. Here in Boston, EPA workers are rallying against the proposed cuts by gathering at the State House in a show of opposition..

If you think you can’t fight food waste, think again. So much of what we hear and read about food waste is on a grand scale: thousands of pounds of produce from supermarkets, acres of unharvested farm crops, institutional waste from large companies, schools and hospitals.

An Innovative Approach to Food Waste

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It won’t be long before the holiday season is upon us, and it is often around the holidays that charities start sending out requests for money and food donations to help feed the hungry.

While there are close to 50 million people across the country who struggle to feed themselves and their families, Americans also throw away an estimated 40 percent of their food in the trash. Much of our wasted food ends up rotting away in landfills where it releases methane gas, something that causes a number of environmental problems and contributes to climate change.

Nearly 40 percent of the food that America produces goes to waste. Lovin’ Spoonfuls founder Ashley Stanley explains why that’s happening, and what we can do about it. 

It’s 8:30 a.m., and our first pick-up is underway. Not a substantial haul, but not a small one either, and it looks something like this: 600 pounds of organic milk, 5 days before it’s expiration date; 38 pounds of raspberries, perfect, red and ripe. There’s also 56 pounds of wholesome, locally-produced bread that was baked last night, 64 pounds of sandwiches and salads made yesterday, and 45 pounds of fresh, organic chicken breasts, too.

Hunger doesn’t require expensive scientific analysis, vaccines or cures. It requires connecting existing resources to people that need it.

Ashley Stanley believes people need to think more about what already exists, rather than the things we don’t have.

This is an important point to Stanley, the founder of Lovin’ Spoonfuls. Her nearly five-year-old Boston nonprofit collects fresh food that would otherwise end up in the trash, delivering it to homeless shelters and other nonprofits where it is needed.

...This week, 50,000 politically-motivated citizens are convening in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention. Last week in Cleveland, which drew similar numbers (along with 30+ million TV viewers), the GOP laid out their platform for the general election. Yet, there was no talk about the food system. Nor was there talk about the number of hungry people in this country – and no talk of why the gaps continue to get wider.

“Writing and cookery are just two different means of communication,” said Maya Angelou.